Duel
by Matt Morwell
Summary: When Dooku makes the mistake of challenging Yoda to a battle, we see why Yoda is so respected and feared... Based on the Episode II Yoda vs. Dooku battle. Extended.


Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, Yoda, or their lightsabers. Damn.  
  
Note: This story is written in Yoda's perspective. His twisted syntax has been modified for clarity. I thought it would get annoying after a while of reading lines like, "Frustrated, I was," or "Watched his attacks, I did."  
  
***  
  
I look up at the rain of destruction from that Federation battleship command module the Clone Troopers have just fired upon and brought down. There's dust and dirt everywhere, creating a haze nearly impossible to see through. Fortunately, the Kaminoans were quite serious about the armor that protects the troopers; the infrared visors in their helmets are state- of-the-art, allowing them to continue their advance on the battle droids.  
  
I can sense Master Obi-Wan and young Skywalker in the distance. Something is causing Skywalker pain... he is desperate to stop their ship before they can reach the fleeing Dooku. Obi-Wan is trying to reason with him, yet Skywalker insists that their ship must stop.  
  
I feel it now... Senator Amidala. She's wounded and fell off the ship in a random spray of blaster fire. Skywalker wants to help her.  
  
Admirable. His heart has a passion for her, burned so deeply into him that he cannot think clearly. He cannot see what must be done, no matter the cost.  
  
I look up at the Commander for a moment. The yellow markings on his armor indicate his rank, but that is all that separates him from the rest of these Clone Troopers that fight for us.  
  
I have come this far. I must see this to the end.  
  
I turn back to the raging battlefield, staring at the multicolored beams of lasers and ion rifles. "Bring me a ship."  
  
The Commander nods. "Right away, sir." He uses his helmet communicator to call in one of their troop carriers; within seconds of my command, the carrier lands in front of me.  
  
I move forward quickly, but not hastily, for to move hastily would likely be to break my neck. And with this cane, I can keep my balance even more well than I would otherwise.  
  
I feel the Force flowing through Obi-Wan, and anger... hatred... flowing through Skywalker.  
  
He hates Dooku. Hates him for what he has done today. Hates him for all the Jedi that have been so brutally, needlessly murdered... and now for the possibility that Senator Amidala may be dead.  
  
I know otherwise. Though she does not use the Force, her presence within it is strong. It is her resolve that creates that strengthened presence. She is very much alive, and determined to stop Dooku.  
  
As for Dooku... I sense the dark side. His power has grown; he has learned much, even after breaking with the Jedi Order.  
  
The ship soars gracefully; the Kaminoans train their pilots well. Once again I am impressed; they would make excellent Jedi trainers, were there more Kaminoan Jedi.  
  
I sense Dooku drawing upon the dark side... he's using it to harm Skywalker. Skywalker's pain is creating waves in the Force, waves no Jedi on Geonosis could ignore.  
  
The sand seems to bury everything, but the pilot knows where the hangar is, as reported by the pilot of Obi-Wan and Skywalker's ship, destroyed moments after taking off from the platform.  
  
As the ship nears final approach, I feel Obi-Wan's pain as Dooku takes him down. I feel Skywalker's concentration double, triple, as he uses not one, but two lightsabers to battle Dooku by himself.  
  
And just as the ship is within shooting distance of the platform, ignorance of Skywalker's pain is impossible. He has been seriously harmed by Dooku.  
  
This must stop.  
  
And it will stop now.  
  
I step off the ship and make my way into the hangar. I hear the deactivation of Dooku's lightsaber.  
  
Then I sense Dooku's surprise. He didn't expect to see me here.  
  
Good.  
  
I pace into the hangar, relying more heavily on my cane than usual. I'm saving my strength at the last minute; I know what is to come.  
  
Dooku must be stopped, and there is no one else here.  
  
I must do it myself.  
  
I look around the hangar, and my eyes fall upon Obi-Wan and Skywalker, lying next to each other. Obi-Wan's leg and arm are hurt, badly enough that he cannot battle.  
  
And Skywalker... the Force, Skywalker's right arm has been taken off above the elbow.  
  
Horrific. Terrible.  
  
Disappointing.  
  
"Master Yoda," Dooku greets me.  
  
"Answer for your murder of the Jedi today, you will," I reply. I will not give him respect if he gives none to the Jedi of our Order.  
  
"Is that so?" he asks.  
  
"It is," I respond. "To think that a former Jedi would do this... unspeakable, it is."  
  
Dooku glares at me, a maniacal half-grin on his face. "Come now, Master Yoda. Now that the Jedi have no power over me--"  
  
"None?" I interject.  
  
"None," he replies defiantly. Such impudence.  
  
He gestures toward one of the fuel cells embedded in the walls.  
  
It flies through the air, heading straight for me.  
  
I open myself to the Force and let my cane drop to the floor. I raise one hand, using the Force to smack away the ethereal limb holding the cell.  
  
The cell flies back and skids across the ground.  
  
Dooku repeats the action.  
  
I repeat mine.  
  
Dooku gestures toward the ceiling with both hands, both arms outstretched.  
  
The ceiling begins to cave.  
  
I raise both my arms in much the same fashion, calling on the Force to protect me.  
  
An invisible wall is created between me and the boulders that rain from the ceiling.  
  
After a moment, I tip the wall to one side.  
  
The boulders cascade off and strike the ground loudly.  
  
I raise my hands in a defensive pose. "Strong, you have become, Dooku. The dark side, I sense in you."  
  
In response, he raises his fingers and points them at me.  
  
"I have become stronger than any Jedi," he states. "Even you."  
  
A bolt of Force lightning lances out of his fingertips.  
  
I reach out to the Force in response, commanding it to return Dooku's attack with equal force. The Force responds by raising my hand and stopping the bolt in its tracks, coalescing into a ball of lightning just beyond my claws.  
  
My disappointment in him grows.  
  
The lightning strikes back at him; he deflects it, and it flies into the ceiling harmlessly.  
  
He's surprised. He wasn't expecting me to strike back.  
  
He fires again, circling around.  
  
I block once more, matching his steps. His attack has devastating power; he hopes to finish me off quickly. He is in a great hurry.  
  
But to go where?  
  
It matters not. Once he's aboard any of the Federation ships, they can escape to any corner of the galaxy.  
  
The assault finally stops. The lightning ball remains at my clawtips for a few more seconds, then dissipates entirely.  
  
I sigh. "Much to learn, still have you." I turn to look behind me, and I see that I am cutting him off from his ship. I turn back to him. "For the moment, content am I to prevent you from leaving until reinforcements arrive. Answer for your crimes, you must."  
  
Dooku glares, then removes his lightsaber from his belt once more. One might think the curved design of the handle would make his saber harder to use, but then again, if one did think such a thing, one would never have seen him battle with it. He developed that handle shortly before he left the Order.  
  
"This is far from over, Master Yoda. I will not be so easily captured or vanquished. Obviously, this... contest will not be decided by our knowledge of the Force..." Dooku activates his saber. The blade once glowed green; now it burns red. "...but by our skill with a lightsaber."  
  
"A quaint lie," I respond. "Powerful you are with the darkness as your ally, but more powerful am I with the light as mine."  
  
Dooku sighs impatiently. "The simple fact, Master Yoda, is that I have little time to wage a Force war with you. They are long and boring and drain us both of our power in the Force. Saber combat is more stimulating, more challenging, and more draining than manipulation of rock or electricity."  
  
"Impatient and bloodthirsty you are. Your downfall, it will be," I say. I continue to block his path to his ship.  
  
"Perhaps," he concedes. He begins to advance. "But as I see it, right now you have three options. You can battle me, you can stand aside and let me leave without a fight, or you can stand there as I cut you down. I don't believe for an instant you'll stand by and let me leave so easily, not when you have so few forces in the sky to stop me. And as appealing as the last option is to me, I very much doubt you will do that, either."  
  
"Correct you are," I respond.  
  
"Then face me, and we will see who is the stronger." He continues to advance.  
  
I don't move.  
  
Suddenly, he stops, and a grin spreads across his face. "Unless, of course, you no longer have a lightsaber to defend yourself with."  
  
I don't know what makes me do it. Is it some bizarre need to prove myself to him? Even after he was my Padawan, and I his master?  
  
It doesn't matter. I glare at him disapprovingly as I pull the left side of my Jedi robe back and reveal to him my own lightsaber.  
  
His wicked smile spreads even futher, and he begins to move toward me again.  
  
I sigh. I don't want to go into saber battle, but there is little use in trying to convince him to stop moving. I can drain Force energy, but I'm as weak as anyone else when it comes to the swipe of a lightsaber blade.  
  
I know he will try to cut me down.  
  
And I know I must delay him.  
  
This is the only way.  
  
"Wish to harm you, I do not," I say.  
  
"If I were you, I would stop worrying about my opponent," Dooku growls, moving faster.  
  
This is it.  
  
I call my saber from my belt to my right hand, and I activate it. The green blade is taller than I am, but size doesn't matter.  
  
Not with the Force as my ally.  
  
I leap into the air and, shouting, hack down at my former apprentice. He blocks, but seems surprised by the ferocity of the attack. He might not have been expecting me to attack at all... only defend.  
  
Indeed, he still has much to learn.  
  
I allow complete control of the Force over me, let it guide my actions, my defense, my attack, my evasions...  
  
It is almost like an out-of-body experience. I am aware of myself moving around Dooku, almost faster than he can track me. But I'm watching myself from a distance.  
  
He has to strike downward, and that limits his ability to attack. He's used to cutting down enemies that come higher than his waist. I block again and again, moving to my right. He shoves his blade just slightly to my right, hoping that I'll pass straight through it without slowing. I don't slow down; I jump, spin sidewise and strike his blade with mine twice before I hit the ground.  
  
I start moving forward, trying to keep him away from his ship. I strike at his legs again and again, trying to make myself as much of a pest as I can. He blocks each hit, but his anger is flaring. He hacks down at a 45 degree angle, and I block.  
  
He presses against my blade, and I press against his.  
  
Our sabers are locked.  
  
I'm panting for breath.  
  
But so is he.  
  
I summon the Force once more and shove my way out of the lock. Then I resume my attacks, now jumping all around him, trying to keep him guessing as to where I will attack next. I move my blade with speed, but not with haste. I jump and try to hit him as I move upward; when that fails, I try to strike him on the way down. I flip through the air, my blade singing.  
  
He begins to let his anger cloud his judgment. His hacks down at me are now more out of strength than speed. He's becoming frustrated, and is sacrificing concentration on motion for concentration on strength.  
  
I feel a smile coming on, but I can't lose my focus.  
  
Abruptly, he strikes at me with a vicious, one-handed, overhand blow.  
  
I don't even bother to block. I leap off to my right, rebound off the right wall, hit the left wall and push off, and come in swinging. Up, down, left, up, left, right, down, thrust, spin left, right... The two of us are moving so quickly I don't even try to keep track.  
  
He's blocked all of my strikes.  
  
But I'm blocking all of his, as well.  
  
And that is enough to quell my frustration.  
  
And then I sense it. Reinforcements are seconds away.  
  
Dooku senses it, too. He lashes out in a desperate strength/speed attack, and indeed, it is strong. I call upon the Force to help me block it.  
  
His blade again locks with mine.  
  
I'm panting harder, and sweat is streaming off Dooku's face.  
  
His ship is now to the side. I am no longer blocking his access to it.  
  
We are still concentrating on the lock.  
  
I'm determined to keep it.  
  
"Well you have fought, my young Padawan." I use his former Jedi title like a weapon; it is the last shred of his affiliation with the Jedi Order.  
  
But the title means nothing to either of us now.  
  
He has attacked me, and he has murdered my compatriots.  
  
Dooku's maniac grin returns. "This fight is only beginning."  
  
He pulls out of the lock, allowing me to win it, but at the same time, he turns to one of the hangar's support pillars and gestures toward it.  
  
The bottom of the support gives way, and it begins to topple toward Obi-Wan and Skywalker.  
  
I deactivate my lightsaber, return it to my belt, and concentrate on the pillar.  
  
It continues to move. Closer, closer...  
  
I can hold it.  
  
I will hold it.  
  
The pillar is heavy. Impossible for even a Kel Dor of Master Plo Koon's strength to lift.  
  
But size matters not.  
  
It is the adage I have taught my students for 800 years.  
  
I will not abandon it today.  
  
I close my eyes, grind my teeth, and call upon my last ounce of strength to stop it from happening.  
  
And for an instant, I receive a vision.  
  
In one of my mind's eyes, I see the pillar crushing the two Jedi where they lie, and then the galaxy with a black fist closing over it.  
  
In the other eye, I see a dark figure wearing black armor and a black helmet. The figure is turned away from me; I cannot see who it is.  
  
The flash-vision almost makes me lose my concentration.  
  
The pillar slips through my grasp for an instant.  
  
Size matters not.  
  
Size matters not.  
  
Size matters...  
  
Not.  
  
The pillar stops.  
  
I grunt as I use the Force to shove the pillar away from my fellow Jedi, then let it drop to the floor. The *clang* resounds throughout the room.  
  
Dooku's ship is taking off.  
  
But I'm too drained. I'm strong with the Force, but I can't stop an entire ship from moving.  
  
Then I hear the approaching ship. Senator Amidala has arrived with reinforcements.  
  
But they are too late. Dooku is already leaving.  
  
I sigh and call my cane back to me.  
  
I will need it.  
  
Amidala runs straight for Skywalker, barely acknowledging my presence. I don't mind; I need rest.  
  
I head back to the outside landing platform, where two melee Clone Troopers and a Lieutenant await.  
  
"Immediate medical attention, we need," I say. "Wounded, we have."  
  
"Yes, sir," says the Lieutenant. He calls for a medic.  
  
I step onto the ship and take a seat.  
  
Rest, I need.  
  
Earned it, I have. 


End file.
